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World Report - UK & Ireland
RECORD NUMBER OF LEADING LAW FIRMS GET ON THEIR BIKES FOR BREAST CANCER CARE’S TOUR DE LAW 2014
Now in its third year, Breast Cancer Care’s Tour de Law, which takes place on Tuesday 28th and Wednesday 29th October 2014 to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, has already attracted the record number of 15 leading law firms who have confirmed they will be challengers for the London to Paris static cycle race this year.
Challengers confirmed so far include: Allen & Overy, Ashurst, Bates Wells & Braithwaite, Bristows, Charles Russell, Devonshires, Eversheds, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Ince & Co, Latham & Watkins, Norton Rose Fulbright, Plexus Law, Sidley Austin and Weil, Gotshal & Manges.
The event will take place over two days and will see top law firms racing against each other over the equivalent distance of from London to Paris and back, on static bicycles in each of their offices. The event aims to raise vital funds to help Breast Cancer Care support the thousands of women waking up to the harsh reality of breast cancer every day. Jill Hoseason, COO of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, said, “We thoroughly enjoyed working with Breast Cancer Care and taking part in last year’s Tour de Law, which gave us the opportunity to unleash our competitive spirit. It was a fantastic event in support of a great charity and we can’t wait to get on the bikes again this year.”
Mike Orton, HR Director at Ince & Co, said, “We have enjoyed being part of Tour de Law since its inception in 2012. We were already supporters of Breast Cancer Care through its ‘Pink Friday’ campaign but Tour de Law has given us a great opportunity to get the whole firm involved and has proved to be a lot of fun as well as highly competitive! It has been a truly inclusive event with trainees, secretaries, partners, solicitors and
business services staff all jumping on the Watt Bikes to do their bit. It is great to see it taking off as more firms start to take part, though we will have to up our game to finish in the medals!”
David Meredith, Partner at Weil Gotshal & Manages, said, “We first got involved because breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in the UK and many of us know someone who has been through the experience. We positioned our Tour de Law cycles on a dais in the office canteen, and participation by the entire office was phenomenal. In the end, it brought together a couple of hundred people from all functions in our office in a way no other office event has. It was brilliant.”
Nick Billingham, Corporate Social Responsibility Partner at Devonshires, said, “We are delighted to be involved for the first time in this year’s Tour de Law for Breast Cancer Care. We always relish a challenge and to take part in one for such a fantastic charity is very exciting. Some of us cycled London2Paris in 24 hours in July for the Devonshires Foundation so we have the miles in our legs and are quietly confident we’ll make it there and back.”
SEPTEMBER 2014
LINKLATERS HAS BECOME THE FIRST ORGANISATION TO SUCCESSFULLY ACHIEVE CERTIFICATION AGAINST THE UK NATIONAL EQUALITY STANDARD (NES).
At a special event to mark the occasion, Steve Varley, EY UK&I Chairman and Simon Davies, Linklaters’ Firmwide Managing Partner were joined by 100 representatives from some of the UK’s leading businesses in a packed event at London’s Roast restaurant. Attendees had the opportunity to hear from leading figures in the business world and compare experiences with organisations at various stages of their NES assessment.
The NES is the first standard developed by businesses to bring clarity and consistency in their efforts to tackle inequality and promote inclusion. To be awarded the NES, a company must undertake a robust assessment against a defined set of criteria across 7 standards. Trained NES assessors review documentation, ensure legal compliance, conduct comprehensive interviews and sample staff through in-depth surveys. The outcomes are then shared with the company in a comprehensive report. There are now some 200 companies in the pipeline to complete the assessment.
Arun Batra, CEO of the NES, said: “This is a very special day for everyone involved in the NES. We
are delighted that Linklaters are the first organisation to achieve NES certification, with several other firms now at various stages in their journey. The first NES certification represents a pivotal moment for the UK. For the first time industry and government have joined forces to set a robust national standard that provides businesses with a range of indicators to help them create sustainable change and demonstrate exceptional practice.”
Simon Davies, Firmwide Managing Partner at Linklaters, said: “To be the first business in the UK to be certified in meeting the National Equality Standard is a tremendous achievement. Having 70 competency areas across seven categories, forensically examined through diversity lenses for well in excess of a year demonstrates how tough meeting this standard really is. The success of any business - founded on the quality of its people - rests in attracting, retaining and developing the best talent from the widest possible pool and is the reason why greater diversity is one of Linklaters’ global priorities. We are very pleased to see our work in this area described as outstanding but equally committed to improving our diversity further.”
DLA PIPER WINS AT THE LAW AWARDS OF SCOTLAND
DLA Piper is celebrating success after scooping the top spot in two prestigious categories at the Law Awards of Scotland 2014 - Global Law Firm of the Year and CSR Firm of the Year.
The awards, judged by a national panel of experts chaired by Hector MacQueen of the Scottish Law
Commission, recognise best practice in Scotland’s legal sector.
The firm received the awards at the respected industry event hosted in Glasgow on 4 September.
The accolades reflect our on-going success and growth as well as its commitment to firm's vision to deliver quality, value added services to its
clients, globally and locally.
Simon Rae, Office Managing Partner in Scotland said: “It is tremendous to receive recognition of this nature, which is testament to the hard work, quality and commitment of our teams in Scotland. We pride ourselves on our ability to meet the needs of our clients whatever and wherever they may be - in Scotland, across the UK and globally."